


The Red Journals

by Moonlit_notebook



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Diary/Journal, F/F, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Male Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Outsider, POV Third Person Omniscient, narrator introduced later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-04 18:10:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12174048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlit_notebook/pseuds/Moonlit_notebook
Summary: Aniela, King Alfor's apprentice and the red paladin in-training, had been locked away in a cryo-pod ten thousand years ago, after the Fall of Altea. When she's finally found by Alfor's daughter and the new paladins of Voltron, she's asked to train the new team to defeat Zarkon. Here I tell her story from that point onwards, through what I've composed from interviews and her various journal entries (a few of which I've included).





	1. The True Start to this Madness

Aniela landed a blow on Lance's chest, sliding slightly to her left to dodge his attempt to hit back. Lance threw too much weight into his punch and fell forward to the training room floor. 

"Up!" Aniela ordered. "Try again, and don't put all your energy into your punches. You lose your balance."

Lance gets back up, then throws another punch towards his coach's chest. He was off balance, and instead of all his energy, he threw next to none of it into the blows. Aniela let him carry on, perhaps a bit longer than she should've, and got closer with every landing fist. Quickly taking out Lance's legs, she knocked him back to the floor.

"Again."

And so they went at it again. A swift blow from Lance to Aniela's chest, a steadier one from Aniela to Lance's side. Aniela was determined to get Lance to adjust his error, and Lance determined to prove his worth. Again, Aniela knocked him to the floor.

"Again," she ordered.

And again. And again. And again. Until Lance stopped overcompensating and finally put something behind his blows. Until he kept her far enough away that she couldn't knock him over so easily. 

"Finally," Aniela said. 

"Finally? Finally what? That was the worst one yet!" 

"No, Lance. I want you to put less weight in your punches, yes, but there has to be something. You overcompensated. Now you 'finally' fixed it."

"...oh."

"Yes, good work today. Practice that balance. You're getting better, but I think that's all for now. Target practice tomorrow."

Lance left for the kitchen, where he would receive his regular after-training snack from Hunk. Aniela moved to set up the shooting range for Keith. 

* * *

 "Okay I've cross-referenced Sendak's memories to the info I got from the downed ship back on Arus," Pidge said. "Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a 'Universal Station'."

Everyone was gathered together, going through Sendak's memories. They had just discussed their long-term plans for taking down the empire, which will be taking planets one by one until they had enough people to fight the Galra head on.  It was a good plan, and Shiro's idea so you know it'll probably work.

"Universal station?" Hunk asks. "The kind that controls the entire universe?"

Pidge answers: "Well, we are translating from Galra, so it could also by 'Galactic Hub'."

"Or 'Space Base'!" Lance chirps. "What?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Space Base. Where is it? What is it? Are we going?" Aniela asks.

Pidge reads off some coordinates to Coran, who searches the many maps that the Castle had on file, as well as many that they had made with less outdated information, for the Galran base. "Here it is," he said. However, the map didn't show anything. 

"Are you sure you got the coordinates right, Coran? Read them again, Pidge," Aniela said, checking the map that Coran had opened for them to look at. Every digit was correct. "Yeah, it's right. The long-range sensors can't find anything."

"So, what, he remembered it wrong?" Keith asked. 

"It's more likely that we stumbled across a secret base in Sendak's memories," Pidge said. 

"Let's go take a look,"Allura said. "I should be able to get us close enough to get a good scan, but far enough to avoid being noticed."

"Are you sure, Princess?" Aniela asked. "We know the Galra are hostile and if they see us poking around I can't guarantee that we can take them." 

Allura ignored Aniela, piloting the Castle to the location she had pointed out. Aniela frowned at the Princess's stubbornness. Then she looked out at the station, and at the scans that the castle was now gathering from it.

"Ah, the gravitation from these two planets warp the electron emission spectrum enough to keep deep space scanners off the planet," Coran said. 

"What?" Aniela asked, confused. 

"He said that the gravitational force from the two planets makes deep space scanners blind to the station," Hunk explained. 

"Ah."

"This place must handle shipments from all over the Galra Empire," Shiro says. "But why is it hidden? Why go through all the trouble to hide a shipment hub like this?"

"Yeah, there's gotta be something down there worth hiding," Pidge says. 

"Then we'll need to go down there and take a look. Our best entrance is here- the central control building," Allura said. 

"Are you going too, Princess?" Aniela asks. "Are you sure that's wise? I think it'd be better if you stayed here." To which Coran expressed his agreement. 

"Nonsense. I know Galran transport bases better than any of the paladins, and I am as much a part of this fight against Zarkon as anyone. I will be going. Do you have any problem with that?"

"Fine. But then I'm going too." And then a "Sorry, Coran. You're on your own for this one."

"Alright, but I implore you to wait until tomorrow at least. So that you're all well rested and filled with energy."

Aniela exchanges a look with Shiro and the Princess, having a silent conversation on whether to go now or wait. Allura caves, and pilots the Castle to its previous location. 

Aniela speaks to the paladins. "Alright, but the first thing tomorrow after breakfast is that mission. Don't be late-" a glare at Lance, "-and be ready. Goodnight."

* * *

It was a long time before Aniela finally settled down for the night. She had spent a couple of hours with Coran, getting the Paladin's armor ready, cleaning and checking the healing pods, and doing routine maintenance checks on all the lions. Coran had left not too long earlier, going to bed himself. He had been silent for most of it. _'Probably upset with me,'_ she thought. 

But now Aniela was ready to go to bed, save for her nightly journal entry. Opening the personal holodesk that she frequently wrote them on, she sighed long and heavy. It was the tired kind of sigh that one only makes after lots of work and when exhaustion started settling in. But the only thing she could think to write about was the mission tomorrow, and that wasn't the thought she wanted to linger on. All she could think of was what she hadn't taught the paladins and all the ways that could go wrong. So instead she just opened the screen with nothing to write.

And her first entry stared at her. She stared back. She blinked first, as text on a screen can't really blink, and opened it. 

She wasn't going to sleep tonight, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a prologue to the rest of the story, set right before Collection and Extraction. The next chapter will be shortly after they get Aniela, which is between "The Rise of Voltron" and "Some Assembly Required".


	2. Where it Begins (Entry)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first journal entry that Aniela made after joining the team. From this point on we will follow her through her adventures with the residents of the Castle of Lions, and including and beyond the mission described in the last chapter.

"The funny thing about crypods and cryosleep," Aniela wrote. "Is that it doesn't actually work with me. It never really did, even when it was just an overnight healing pod. So ten thousand years that are supposed to pass in the blink of an eye pass instead like a parent's lecture. Just without the guilt. Most of it. 

 I understand King Alfor's reasoning, but I have to wonder if there was another option. I asked Coran once, and he said that my Evian DNA doesn't take well to the forced sleep-state. And that makes the Altean genetics kick in and shapeshift into something more resistant to it. 

 Point being, cryosleep sucks, and especially when you don't have a vote in whether or not it happens. Even more so when you wake up to a whole new set of people and your enemy having control over the galaxy. 

 And the new paladins aren't much.  Coran and Princess Allura asked me to train them since King Alfor and the other Paladins of old trained me and my team. I've got plans written down, and the first official day of training will be tomorrow. 

Taking over Allèt's lion is Hunk. He's fairly large and wields a two-handed cannon. He also cooks, and the others like his food better than Coran's. Which I can't blame them for, the palace's old chef was amazing and Coran's food was no contest. (I only ate it to humor him.)

The blue lion's new pilot, Lance, is far too arrogant. He's been flirting with the Princess since before I got here. From what I've seen, however, he is an excellent marksman. I'd like to work with him on close range, but I think he has the makings of a sniper.

Pidge, whom the mice tell me has many skeletons in the closet, is good in both short and long range. He uses his surroundings to his advantage, not a surprising trait in a green paladin. I am interested in how he will use the training room, particularly the invisible mase. 

Taking my former leader Cassandra's old position is Shiro, who had been Zarkon's prisoner for a year before escaping back to his home planet and meeting the rest of the Paladins. He had been a champion in the Galran gladiator arena and is now skilled in close range combat. His bayard was taken by Zarkon, so I don't know what kind of weapon would be best for him. But his prosthetic arm, that he got from his time with the Galra, functions as a weapon and he uses it as such. 

Taking my lion is Keith, a hothead, short-tempered swordsman. I'm going to train him harder than King Alfor trained me, once we officially start all that. But he is really good with his Bayard.

Coran is the same as he always was, just louder. When he's in the room with everyone else he doesn't shut up. He's more annoying than usual. Except sometimes, when he's in a room by himself or it's just the two of us he gets really quiet. When he's out of things to talk about or like earlier when we aren't in the mindset for talking. It's really sad to see. I've been making a point to ask questions about whatever I can think of when I'm in the room, even if I already know the answer. Just so he has something to run his mouth about.

Princess Allura is as lovely as I remember her, despite also spending ten thousand years in forced sleep. But there are some things that I've noticed. She's been chewing her nails short, her hair isn't as clean cut and orderly as it once was, dark circles are slowly making themselves visible around her eyes, that sort of thing. She isn't always at meals on time, and she doesn't eat very much. I want to help her and offer her support, but truthfully we aren't very close. Before the war, we merely trained with each other on an off day every now and then. When it started we weren't even on the same planet. I'll talk to her eventually, if only to ask about Coran, but for now I'll leave the issue as it is. 

She's anxious to leave Planet Arus, and I agree. We can't do much to fight Zarkon from this spot in the galaxy, but the paladins aren't ready for us to leave yet. They've only just figured out how to form Voltron! We'll work on that especially tomorrow, they need it. It's kind of funny to me since my team learned fairly quickly. But since I'm the only one left, they'll have to crash course this.

-Aniela"

Aniela closed the holodesk and got ready for bed, far later than her intention. Bittersweet thoughts of her old team and her old home followed her into her dreams, and Aniela welcomed the feeling of cold comfort that they brought her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The next chapters will be longer than the last two. Leave kudos if you enjoyed! Comments are appreciated! 


	3. The Importance of Being on Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of training for the paladins and Voltron just isn't happening, Aniela is always so awkward around Princess Allura, and the story actually begins.

Aniela had gotten up early to plan and set up for today's training. She had her personal holodesk open in front of her while she ate her breakfast (food goo). It couldn't have been a dobosh after she started when Princess Allura came in, also seeking breakfast and an early start. Aniela didn't notice the Princess enter or sit at the head of the dining table, so Allura watched her type away furiously with only a mild interest.

"How did you sleep?" the Princess asked her focused companion.

"Oh, Princess! Goo- sorry, good morning! I didn't see you come in, sorry," Aniela said. "But I- er. I slept okay, it was a little hard- er, it was difficult, after being in the pod so long, though. How- uh. How did you sleep?"

Princess Allura, surprised by Aniela being flustered and awkward, but it wasn't exactly unexpected. Aniela and Allura hadn't been close at all before, but the Princess had been hoping to change that now. She had somewhat forgotten that Aniela had always been jittery around her.

"I didn't sleep my best, but that is expected after long periods of time in cryosleep like you said. How are the plans for today's training coming along?"

Aniela jumped for her holodesk, all but gracefully, and started to scan what she had written in some form of panic. "Um. I need a diagnostic done on the training room- just um. Just to see what works. If you can! If you- you don't have to. It- um. I can manage without it. I don't wanna bother you. Um."

Allura inwardly sighed. These conversations were going to get annoying. "That's alright Aniela, we need to test all the castle's systems anyway. We can check the training room as well. I think it would be best to train the paladins on their training deck anyway. Do you have anything else planned?"

"Oh! Right princess, of course, you're right you're gorgeous, I mean! Um. Training. Forming Voltron. Getting them faster at it, the last battle was- close. The last battle was too close for comfort. We need them to get faster at that so. I'll have them practice that. And the training deck."

Aniela kicked herself for her stuttering and slip up. She was better than this. Princess Allura had started avoiding her because she would always do this and now that she had another shot she couldn't blow it like an idiot. "I'm going to have them practice forming Voltron and disbanding," she said with her eyes closed, trying not to think about what Allura thought of her bizarre behavior.

Allura was actually thankful for the sentence, as it wasn't stuttered or repeated. It was the beginnings of an actual conversation, and she was extremely grateful. Deciding not to break the spell, she said "that's a great idea! It was far too close last time. In fact, once we're done testing the castle's system, we should awake them with an alarm. To keep them vigilant."

"Yeah," Aniela said softly. "Yeah, we should do that." 

"I'll go get Coran. You keep up the good work." Allura left feeling slightly satisfied at their progress in communication, and Aniela slammed her face into the table as soon as Allura was out of earshot. 

"Dumb, stupid, idiot..."

* * *

 "Um...We're uh, sounding the, er, waking the paladins, with the alarm thing now, right?" Aniela asked Allura and Coran, stuttering despite her desire not to. 

"Yes," the princess answered. "Coran, if you could please time them? And Aniela, I think a full evaluation is in order if you would like to provide one."

"Right away, princess!" "Oh, um, of course, princess."

Allura pushes the alarm button on her station, Coran pulls out a meat thermometer instead of the timer in his other pocket, and Aniela ignores the shame from her stuttering and focuses on the paladins getting up quickly. The alarm, loud, repetitive, and flashing red, sounds throughout the castle startling sleeping paladins awake (save Lance, whom we all know sleeps with headphones on) and alerting the ones who aren't. "Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking!" Allura calls over the announcement system. "Go! Go! Go! We need Voltron, now!"

Aniela turned to Coran, "Don't you think she's overdoing it?"

Coran scoffed, as he is the dramatic type, and said "I don't think she's doing it well enough! You've got to sell it a bit more!"

"Like with blasts to the castle and the particle barrier actually up?"

"No! Like this-" he takes the microphone from Allura, much to her displeasure, and says into it "Oh no! Allura is dead! It's horrible-"

"I don't think that's very realistic, Coran," Aniela said, facing the paladins as they finished entering the room.

"-her head fell off!" both girls roll their eyes, "Wait, what? Her severed head is trying to speak to me!"

"Coran," Allura says, trying to draw his attention away from his dramatic performance and to the paladins, who stood confused just inside the door.

"Oh, yes, Princess, I'm listening,"

"Can severed heads even talk?" Aniela asks. "I think when the blood flow stops it would stop any movement from happening, and the vocal chords are in the neck- at least, they are on Evians and myself. I'm not certain about Alteans," Aniela says, to no one in particular.

"Yes, Alteans have vocal chords in their neck, so a head that's been separated from the body speaking is highly unlikely, if not impossible," Allura answered.

"Well, it's not like the paladins know that," Coran said, away from the microphone. 

"They do now," Allura said. Coran's chirp of "Time!" is lost in the embarrassment of the moment. 

"I guess this isn't an actual attack," Shiro says.

Allura clears her throat and gestures to Aniela, telling her to give the paladins her evaluation of their first 'performance'. Aniela, confused, mouths a "what?" to which Allura makes a more exaggerated gesture. "She's telling you to speak," Coran stage whispers. 

"Ah." Aniela says, a brilliant start to her first 'speech' as the paladin's coach. "Yes. This was just a drill to see how well you would do to get ready for an actual attack. And I'm sorry to say that I am disappointed. Not only is Lance missing, meaning that you can't form Voltron, but Shiro is the only one wearing his armor and it took you- Coran? Time?"

"Seventy-five degrees!" He shouts with far too much enthusiasm. "Oh, sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer."

"Why do you have- nevermind. Point being, it was longer than five doboshes. Do we need to practice running back and forth to your bedrooms and to the Bridge so that you are faster at it? Because we will." A chorus of  "no, ma'am"s (and Hunk's repeating "no, no, no") answered her. "That's what I thought."

Lance chose that moment to enter the room with a "Good morning, everybody. What's going on?"

"Lance, we will be discussing this later." Aniela's tone made everyone in the room flinch a little. "Coran, Allura, and I have been up for hours getting this castle straightened out. The least you can do is get up on time."

Lance opens his mouth to defend himself, but Hunk beats him to it. "You got to sleep for 10,000 years, man. We only just left Earth and we're all a little tired and jetlagged." 

"I don't care about your lagging jets! Zarkon has control of most of the universe, show them, Princess!" At Aniela's request, Allura pulls up a map of all the distress signals that the Castle had picked up in its years of absence. "All of the known universe is under Zarkon's control. You have to understand the stakes of what this is. Voltron is the only thing that can free those planets from Galra control, and we can't do that if you are late!"

Allura, deciding to add one more factor to Aniela's guilt-trip, moves the map over to the milky way, centering Earth. Red outlined the galaxy, slowly closing in on Earth. "An attack on your planet is inevitable," the princess says. "It is in the center of this hologram." 

A somber mood is almost visible in the paladins at that, and Hunk's soft "Oh, no," is a blanket feeling. 

"But we can stop it," Aniela promises. "Coran and the princess have to continue preparing the castle for departure, and during that time I will be helping you learn to form Voltron. It was far too close for comfort last time."

"Wait, what about the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship? Can I talk to them?" Pidge asks.

"I'm afraid not number five," Coran says. (He whispers an "I have you ranked by height, okay?" to justify his bizarre nickname) "the prisoners need to stay in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow."

"He's right. They've been through a lot," Allura says. 

"Everyone to your lions! I want you out on the field in no more than five doboshes! Don't be late this time!" Aniela says, and all the paladins scatter to their hangars. Aniela turns to Allura, and, trying to keep her voice steady and her words legible, says, "Station yours can turn on?" (Which to this day, none of us know what it was supposed to be, but we believe it was a "Can you turn on your station?")

Allura, reasonably confused, asks "What?" to which Aniela responds with a wave of nerves and "Your station! Need to use! Communications! Watch the paladins! Yes!"

"Oh," Allura says. "Sure, here." Running a basic algorithm, Allura sets the station up so that Aniela could operate it on her own, even giving her access to the teleduv with only a moment's hesitation. (At this time, no one knew whether or not Aniela could actually operate a teleduv or not.)

"You thank!" Aniela says, with absolute horror in her eyes. Allura, not seeing her expression and not reading too much into the awkward girl's words, says a simple "You're welcome!" and leaves.

Aniela pushes the shame into the ever-growing mental pile of it and opens the holodesk on Allura's station to visual and auditory communications with the paladins. Four of which were on time and in the field just passed the castle. "Where's Hunk?" Aniela asked. 

"Sorry, sorry!" said party yells, joining the others. "Got stuck in the zip line. Like seriously, though, are they really necessary?" 

"That doesn't matter. I'll have Coran look at yours when he has a free moment, Hunk," Aniela sends a comm message to Coran, asking him to do just that. "Now, to form Voltron you have to tug at the bond between paladin and lion, between paladin and paladin. Reach for it and pull, and form Voltron!" 

The paladins try their best, but as Aniela feared, they were unsuccessful. "Keep trying," she tells them. "I'm going to see if the princess has any ideas." 

Aniela opens a separate channel, closing the first, to the room Allura and Coran are in. "Princess?" 

"Yes, Aniela?"

"Er, um, trouble. Voltron. Forming. Suggestions?" 

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're asking." 

"Sorry, sorry, my fault. I- erm. The paladins. They're, uh, having problems, wait, no." Aniela takes a deep breath. _'Get this one right'_ she tells herself. "The paladins can't form Voltron." Then, realizing what meaning could be drawn from what she just said, Aniela quickly corrects "Right now! They can't form Voltron right now. I mean, they can, but they're having trouble. They are having trouble forming Voltron. The paladins. Are having trouble. forming Voltron. Yes."

"Ah." Then a confused, "how can I help?"

"Suggestions! Helpful advice! What do you- I mean, er, what should the paladins do to form Voltron?"

"Well, tell them to think about last time. They were in the heat of battle, the entire planet was relying on them, and we were relying on them. And then again when we got you off that asteroid- the heat of battle, you were incoherent and unable to fight, and everyone they'd rescued was relying on them."

"But last time was so close..." Aniela says to herself. "Thank you! For helping me! And the paladins! Yes! Thank you for helping me and the paladins! And the universe, since, ya know, the universe's freedom relies on Voltron, and if they can't form him then we can't free the universe. So you're really helping the universe. And I'm rambling. I need to go. Help the paladins. Help the universe. Yes."

Aniela closes the channel and Allura turns to Coran and said: "Did you catch any of that?"

Back in the field, Voltron still isn't formed. "Is everyone bonding and focusing?" Shiro asks the rest. 

"Why was this so easier before?" Lance asks no one.

"Actually, the princess pointed something out to me," Aniela said, having just re-opened the communications channel. "The last few times you've formed Voltron you all united together because you were in battle. You did it by means to survive."

"So, what, we can only form Voltron when our lives are in danger?" Hunk asks. 

"Let's see."

"Wait, what?" said Pidge. "Is that a threat? You're not actually going to try and kill us, are you?"

"Yeah!" Lance says. "You said you need us!"

"The universe needs us, you aren't going to kill us. You have nothing to gain from that." Keith said.

He was right, of course, but Aniela decided that they didn't need to know that. "The universe needs Voltron. If you can't form him, there's no reason to keep you around. Either you form Voltron or I clear spaces for new paladins." Aniela turns on the Castle's defenses. "Good luck!"

* * *

 Allura and Coran had a lot of work ahead of them, especially if the hydraulic stabilizers will keep giving them trouble. But Allura's mind was elsewhere, thinking about the interactions between herself and the resident half-Altean. "Coran," she asked, "Do you think Aniela thinks lowly of me?"

Bewildered by her sudden question, Coran doesn't answer. So Allura continues. "It's just that she always seems so bizarre and tense whenever I speak to her. I wish to befriend her, but if she thinks poorly of me I might have to change my tactics."

"I don't think anyone could think poorly of you, Princess. Especially not Aniela. In fact, I think she puts you on a bit of a pedestal. Maybe that's why she has so much trouble speaking normally to you."

"Really? She thinks that highly of me? Are you sure?"

"Well, among other things. You have to remember how she looked up to King Alfor, how you both did. And that he trained you together, and that you're a full-blooded Altean while she isn't is probably intimidating, I'd think. I'm sure there are loads more factors, but I'm certain that she thinks well of you, Allura."

Spirits lifted by the response, Allura grins at him. "Thank you, Coran." 

Just then the room's communication channel opened up to Aniela on the bridge. "So the paladins think I'm going to kill them if they don't form Voltron," she said, causing Allura to laugh and Coran to sigh in a very tired manner. "Coran, could you please come help me fix this? I think I messed up a little." 

The mustache man nodded, heading to the elevators to the bridge. "I think it's best we took a break anyway, princess. Get some snacks and rejuvenate the mind."

"Yes, good idea," Allura said, still laughing. "I'll meet you in the kitchen when you're done."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated, tell me what you did and didn't like! Did I rewrite the episode so that it was still intriguing to read? Tell me what you hope to see in the future! Tell me what you don't want to see in the future! Give your criticism on Aniela! Do you like her so far? Do you not? How was I at writing her awkward stuttering? Does she remind you of anyone? How do you pronounce Aniela? Who do you think the narrator is? Would you like to know more about Planet Eviear and the Evieans? How about Aniela's team from when she was a paladin? Is there anything about the universe that's plaguing you? Feel free to ask all your questions!


	4. Training and Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins know that Aniela won't actually kill them in training, so long as they form Voltron. Aniela knows that she won't actually kill the paladins whether they form Voltron or not. Coran has to clean up this mess. Allura finds it hilarious. I am embarrassed that this was ever a problem in the first place. Then in Act Two, we have the training deck and an important food fight.

"No, no," Coran said into the communications channel. "She was merely trying to inspire you. To make you feel the conditions that caused you to form Voltron the last few times. She wasn't and isn't going to kill you."

"Come on inside. We'll practice on the training deck instead. Improve your teamwork, your close range fighting, and help you bond as a team. The original paladins fought together ages before Voltron was introduced to them. My team and I used to train together every other week," Aniela says.

"There's a training deck?" from Keith.

"Yes. Park your lions in their hangars and meet Coran and me there in ten doboshes. Do not be late." Aniela cut the channel, but not before five "yes, ma'am"s sounded from the paladins. 

She and Coran left the bridge and began walking to the training deck, not too far away. The first few ticks were in silence, but there was something bothering Aniela about her coaching job.

"Coran, I'm going about this all wrong, aren't I?" she asks, knowing the answer. 

"I'm afraid so. It seems they need a friend more than they need an enemy."

"How do I become that for them, Coran?"

"You could with some effort, but I think there's a better option for that." 

Curious, Aniela turned to her companion. "Really? Who?"

"Princess Allura."

Waiting for him to explain, as the paladins thought Allura was as strange as Allura thought the paladins were and that really didn't make her much of a candidate, Aniela continued to walk. Coran began again, "Really she's the only one of us who can do it. She's around their age, and so are you, but you have to train them and coach them. Which makes you their superior and harder to connect with."

"But Princess Allura is a _princess_. Doesn't that make her a superior as well?"

"Perhaps. But she isn't their princess, and if they learn to address her as 'Allura' instead she might have a better chance."

"So really the paladins need a friend in this lifestyle and you've decided that the Princess is the only one who can do that? I mean, that makes sense and all, but are you sure it's necessary?" 

"I think it would help with their adjustment to living away from their planet, at least. It doesn't have to be necessary."

"Alright. I guess we- no you- will present the idea to her later."

"Why me and not us both?" Coran asked. "You could create a convincing argument."

"If I'm not stuttering and fumbling, you mean. Besides, it was your idea. You should get the credit for it."

"You really do need to work on that stuttering problem. I fear it may build some walls between the two of you that will be hard to break down."  
"I know," Aniela said. She sighed long and tired. "Believe me, I know."

* * *

 "Alright, everyone. We're going to start with some basic low-level trust exercises. The goal of this one is to put your teammates' safety above your own. Use your shields to cover them against the lasers of the drones. Don't get hit, and don't let your teammates get hit."

Aniela watches as the paladins find their shields, and then she turns on the drones. They circle them, and she makes it a point to keep them at the lowest level while the paladins struggle to work as a team.

Checking that the microphone is off, she turns to Coran and asks "Why are they having so much trouble with this?"

"I can't say," he says. "But I doubt it's because of you."

Aniela turned back to the monitor showing the paladins to see that Hunk and Pidge had fallen and that Keith, Lance, and Shiro had circled together, back to back. "That's it." She turns her microphone on and says "Increasing intensity. Be sure to watch your teammate's back, or they won't be there to watch yours. Push and pull, as Cassandra used to say."

The drones around them increase their speed and firing rate. The paladins in the center of the deck have no issue until Lance says "You keeping up over there, Keith?" to which Keith responded, "Just concentrate on keeping me safe."

Aniela turns the microphone off again. "Do Keith and Lance always act like that to each other? Was it like that the first day?"

"I do remember them arguing a lot. Lance seemed to start most of it, to be frank."

"Any idea why? You've always been good at figuring people out."

"It's too early to say, but it might reveal itself in time."

"Alright. Keep me posted."

"Sure thing."

Aniela watches Lance leave a blind spot on Keith, causing him to get shot, before moving to defend Shiro. And failing. They both fell through the floor. She sighs heavily. "Next is the invisible maze. Could you bring Keith up here? He and Lance need to work out whatever their problem is."

"Sure thing." 

* * *

"This is the invisible maze. You can't see the walls, but your teammate can. The goal is to trust them. They will guide you through the maze. If you walk into one of the walls you will get a slight shock. Nothing anywhere near fatal, so don't worry."

Lance put his helmet on and said "Wait, who's guiding me through?"

Keith, who was in the 'command tower' with Aniela and Coran, said: "Take two steps forward."

Lance immediately began protesting against the arrangement, to which Aniela leaned into her microphone and told Lance that "You and Keith have the worst dynamic on the team. We need you two to work that out if you're going to form Voltron together."

"We do not have the worst dynamic on the team!" Lance argues. "Right, Keith?"

"We do, actually, because you apparently have some kind of problem with me."

"I do not!"

"You do too!"

"Nu-uh"

"Uh, yeah-huh!"

Keith and Lance continue to argue while Aniela turns to Coran and says "They are immature children. I did not sign up for this. How am I supposed to make these two get along? At least the others can stand to work with each other."

"Perhaps putting them through these exercises was not the best idea. Should we let them handle this one on their own?"

"Would it even happen if we did that? What if they never get along?"

"I can't say. We can hope."

"Tell you what, I'll give them a chance to fix it themselves and if it's still not resolved when we leave Arus I'll have Shiro look into fixing it."

"A  wise idea."

Into the microphone again, Aniela says "Alright! Lion bonding next! Everyone to their hangars!" 

* * *

With all five lions in the air, Aniela speaks over the training room's communication channel. "You do need to bond with your lion in order to form Voltron. It is nearly as important as bonding with your team, if not more so."

Lance makes some quip about being close to his lion that Aniela didn't pay attention to.

"The goal of this exercise is to be able to see through your lion's eyes. Put your lions into a nosedive." Everyone follows her directions, albeit with a bit of hesitation. "Activating training helmets," she says.

"What's happening? I can't see! Coran! Where's Coran?" Lance says.

"Right here!" the orange-haired man says. "Don't worry, there's hardly a danger element to this at all. You have to pull up right before your lion hits the ground, by seeing through their eyes!" and then a whispered "Aniela please stop pouting they just didn't know what you did. And you did sort of tell them they were expendable earlier."

"I didn't really mean it. It was just to get them to form Voltron..."

"You really do need to be more careful with how what you say can affect people, Aniela. This has always been a problem with you," Coran told her. 

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll try to do better."

"Don't try. Do."

"Um," Hunk said. "Were we supposed to hear all that?"

Embarrassed, Aniela searches the sky for the yellow lion and- "Hunk why did you pull up early?"

"I didn't want to crash into the ground, okay? That's like really scary and I'm really not that good at flying yet."

Aniela sighed and forced a smile. "That's okay, Hunk. I won't make you try an expert level drill right now. But I do want you to try and bond with your lion. It is essential to forming Voltron."

"Yes, coach!" he said.

Aniela wanted to ask him about the title, but her attention was drawn to Keith and Lance racing each other to the planet's surface. "What are you two _doing?"_ She all but yells. They crash before they answer her. "The point of the exercise is to bond with your lion! Not to be the first one to pull up!" Despite Aniela's lecture, an "I win" still comes out of Lance. 

"What was that noise? Did they crash?" Pidge asks. 

"Don't worry. They were _idiots,_ and were racing each other," Aniela said with enough bite that it could make a hole in the yellow lion's armor. Pidge pulls out of the dive anyway, and Shiro is the only one still doing the exercise. Aniela watches him dive, certain that he will crash with Keith and Lance when, miraculously, he pulls up at the last second. "Wonderful, Shiro. I'm happy to see you connect with your lion." 

* * *

"This exercise is called the 'Mind Meld'. Its one of the best simulations of the mental tasks that it takes to form Voltron, in my opinion. The goal is to synchronize mentally with your teammates and remain focused long enough to form a virtual Voltron. This technique takes a while to get the hang of. So, everyone, open your minds. Nothing should be keeping you from your teammates."

Aniela eyes Pidge as she speaks, as she knows that the green paladin has some things going on that she hasn't told anyone about. (Perks of being friends with the mice.)

Everyone's thoughts are visualized. Holographic images of whatever they're thinking of. Aniela doesn't recognize any of them. Of course, that isn't important to her.  Pidge's was distorted like he was trying hard not to think of it. Getting a closer look, Aniela saw that It was a picture of Pidge and someone else, a girl. Lover? Sister? They looked awfully similar. Probably family. Maybe? Maybe the other paladins knew. (In one of her journal entries, Aniela mentions that this was a long shot considering how awful the team was at working together, but that she was impressed that Keith of all people knew who the girl was considering she'd pegged him as the loner type.)

"Okay. Now I want you all to think of your lion. Focus on just your lion. Everything else has to fall away. Just your lion. Now bring them together- that's it." Four lions were moving together in the center of the circle to form Voltron, but the green lion hadn't joined them yet. "Pidge. You too." 

"Stop thinking of your girlfriend," Keith tells the green paladin, who gets defensive. "I wasn't! Hunk was rooting around in my head!" 

"I thought we were open! You can look in my head hole!" Hunk defends. 

Aniela rolls her eyes and says "The point of the exercise is to focus on Voltron and remain open with your team. You're supposed to be able to look into each other's thoughts, although that doesn't mean you should. Try again." 

Aniela watches as all five, yes five! lions appear and gather at the center of the circle. "That's it..." she says, leaning forward. "Keep going..." The lions began to form Voltron, moving together. "Yes! Yes!"

Finally, they were succeeding! The paladins were finally forming Voltron! Finally, they were doing the first thing on today's to-do list! They were finally getting something done! They could finally form Voltron on queue! Now all they needed to do was- wait. Wait, no. No no no no no.  

The green lion- Voltron's _left arm_ \- had been replaced with the same static-filled picture as before. They had not formed Voltron. Pidge had gotten distracted again. 

 Aniela didn't bother with common courtesy as she held her head in her hands and groaned. She took her mic and shoved it in Coran's general direction. "I'm done," she said. "Call a break, send them back to Earth, whatever you gotta do. Just let me have like ten doboshes to pull myself back together. I'll be in the kitchen."

* * *

Aniela liked food goo. She knew it was an unpopular opinion, even among the Alteans. But food goo was very versatile. Not only was it a good snack, but it was also a good way to prank the kitchen boys, good ammunition to shoot at the person across from you, and made great face masks. Or at least that's what some of her Altean friends had said. 

So maybe Aniela was playing with her food. She had every reason too. It had been a long morning. The paladins weren't going anywhere with their Voltron training. And she was re-working her training schedule, so there. She had to move the balance training back a bit, not to start until tomorrow. Maybe if they formed Voltron sometime today she could still get some target practice in. Maybe. But as long as they formed Voltron today at all she would be pleased, at this point. 

A glop of food goo she had shot onto the ceiling fell into her hair. She sighed long and heavy. If these paladins didn't form Voltron they couldn't afford to find new ones. They were already ten thousand years behind the Galra, and to fall even farther would be dooming the universe. So no, these paladins would be forming Voltron. And they would do it sometime today.

* * *

Allura, having finished today's to-do list, decided to check on the paladins before starting on tomorrow's. However, seeing Aniela stomp out of the training deck with murder in her eyes, Allura wondered if she really wanted to know how the paladins were doing. She entered anyway, to see if she could make the most of the situation.

"What are you doing sitting around?" She yelled, seeing that the paladins were sitting around the room in various states of relaxation, and Coran was passing out drinks. "Get up you lazy lumps! You need to be training!" No wonder Aniela was in such a state.

"No, princess, they're just resting a bit. You can't push too hard," Coran said, trying to calm Allura down. It was not working.

"What do you mean 'can't push too hard'? It's time they faced the gladiator!"

"Princess, I really don't know if that's the best idea with Aniela out of the room..."

"Aniela is in no state to guide training, and it's no wonder if you aren't trying hard enough! Everyone on the center pad, now!"

The paladins followed the orders, despite their urges to argue and defend themselves. (Although witness account states that Shiro sent strong looks to both Lance and Pidge.) And gathered around the center of the training deck. "Bayards!" Shiro calls, and the paladins slowly all form their bayards, first Keith and Pidge, followed by Lance and Hunk. 

"In order to defeat the gladiator, you must all fight as one," Coran says on the intercom. 

Hunk is quickly wiped, then Pidge, Lance, and Keith at once, but when Shiro takes it on by himself he freezes. Keith, in a wonderful moment of self-sacrifice, shoots himself from the floor to take the gladiator's hit aimed at Shiro. "Shiro, are you okay?" he asks, to no response. The gladiator does what it's programmed to do and takes advantage of their distraction, sending them hurling into each other and the floor and effectively ending the exercise. 

"That combat simulator was set to a level fit for an Altean child!" Allura said, exaggerating a little. (I've seen the records, it was set for an Altean adolescent.) She continues, "You're not even _close_ to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!"

"I could've told you that, princess," Aniela said, re-entering the room too tired to be worried about how Allura perceived what she said. "Let's call it a day. I don't know about you, but I am _tired."_

_"_ You didn't even do anything!" Lance protests. He gets no response.

"Princess, Coran, a word, please?"

"Absolutely." "Certainly."

* * *

The paladins were seated on the same side of the table, which was both planned and lucky. Allura sat at the head, Aniela on her left, and Coran was standing in between them. He was saying something about focus food, forming Voltron a lot, yadda yadda. Just a distraction, anyway. When the paladins all reached out for their food, Coran pressed the button that he had earlier fished out of his pocket and had them all handcuffed together. 

"Oh, come on!" came from Pidge's end of the table, and a "hold the phone," from Lance's.

"We saw a lot of your individual talents today," Aniela said. "But Voltron isn't about the individual. Welcome to the final bonding exercise, paladins. You get to feed each other."

"Like a pack of yalmors!" Coran cheered.

"Good luck," Aniela finished and started eating her own food. (At this point in the night she admits in her entries to having some fantasies concerning the handcuffs, of which I'll spare you.) 

The Paladins continue to struggle with their teamwork, and Aniela, unfortunately, notices that Lance and Keith had sat next to each other and had been stuck together. Aniela sighed long and heavy, something she'd done a lot of today. "Oh nice, you defiled my food goo!" Lance practically screeches at Keith. Keith retaliates with a very mature "It was your fault!"

Aniela isn't entirely surprised by Allura's growl of frustration. "Do earthlings ever stop complaining?" she asks no one in particular. 

Aniela answers anyway with a "Not really. It's all they've done today. That and argue."

"Can't you give us a break? Everyone's worked really hard today," Shiro says to both Aniela and Allura.

"Yeah! We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like... like..." Keith says, fumbling for the right words.

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance says. (To this day, none of us know if that was just Lance's diction or a translation error, so please don't read too much into it.)

"-You do not yell at the Princess!" Coran shouts to the paladins, and Aniela does her best to assist with the most rotten glare she could summon. Which, considering her mood, was withering. 

"Oh, the princess of _what?"_ Pidge says, undeterred. "We're the only ones here and she's no _Princess_ of ours!" 

Aniela stands fast, ready to punch the lights out of Pidge and anyone else who dares- but Princess Allura beat her to it. A glop of green food goo sails right into Pidge's face and Allura shoots him a glare that she once had only reserved for the kitchen boys who used to tug on her hair. 

"Go loose, Pidge!" Keith yells. He flings his bowl at Allura, an attack that Coran thankful blocks and returns tenfold. 

Preparing for battle, Aniela grabs her plate and spoon and flings herself behind her chair as food goo comes raining down on her. Allura quickly joins her, followed shortly by Coran, and then Aniela is leading a multi-layered attack using the chair as cover. The paladins fire at them surprisingly fast, despite being chained together. Before long everyone needs a shower and a long nap, but they're all laughing. "That's it," Aniela says to herself, bewildered. "That's all it took." Aniela had been trying all day to turn five people into a team and apparently all it took was a bunch of handcuffs and a food fight. She laughs delightedly, her melody joining the paladins'.

"Enough!" Allura shouts over the noise. "Do you see what you're doing?" 

Her tone makes all the paladins tense, but Aniela knew where she was going and gave them a reassuring smile.

"You're finally working together as one!" the princess finishes. 

The paladins, upon discovering that the princess was right and that they had finally reached the mental state they'd been trying for all day, rushed to their lions to form Voltron. Allura turns to Aniela, "That was a wonderful idea. I'm so glad that something finally worked."

Aniela, who's nervousness just hit full force, could only manage a small "uh huh" in agreement. She pointed to the door leading to the Bridge. "Wanna, do you, watch go?" And then she frowned. "Wait no, watch go, wanna, do you? No, still no. Do go, watch you, wanna?"

Allura realized that if she'd let her Aniela would stand there all day trying to get that sentence right, so she just relented and said: "Yes, let's go see."

"Good yes. Voltron good. Voltron yes."

Allura giggles, a very pleasant sound (that I wished Aniela had described more because I certainly cannot,) and says: "Yes, Voltron is good. Let's actually start this day of training, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave kudos if you enjoyed, and ask me anything in the comments! Also, I'm posting this incredibly late at night so please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors. 


	5. Locals are fun.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the paladins slowly advancing in training and the castle almost ready to leave the planet, the prisoners rescued from the Galra ship are heading home. Pidge and Shiro speak to them, meanwhile, the rest of the gang finds a local Arusian and visits their village.

The next morning they actually got to what Aniela had wanted to do yesterday. Balance tests, aim, but what she didn't get to do was sword practice, as Keith hadn't unlocked that ability and Aniela didn't want to push it, for fear of messing it up. Otherwise, the paladins had been largely successful. Lance had lost his footing trying to kick one of the downed Galra fighters and caused Voltron to fall over, but that was more a fault of Lance's than of the team's. They had done well today, but they were still a day behind.

"Alright, that's all for today but we're working twice as hard tomorrow. We're still behind," Aniela told the paladins. "Go ahead and have the day to yourselves, but I want you up bright and early tomorrow morning."

Shiro, Keith, and Pidge all gave her dutiful calls of "yes ma'am" and Hunk and Lance followed them with "yes coach"s. 

"I suppose she is like a coach..." Pidge says.

"See, Lance? Aniela is totally team Voltron's coach," Hunk says. 

"I didn't argue with you on that one, buddy. She is absolutely the coach of team Voltron."

Keith says: "But wouldn't a coach be more 'beat-em-up'? She's more of a drill sergeant to me."

"I can hear you, you know. And I am much nicer than the drill sergeants back on Altea."

Hunk says; "Yeah, she's a coach."

"What is this 'coach' you keep saying? Is it a title back on Earth?"

"Oh, you know, a coach. Like in sports?" Lance said.

"Sports? The popular sport on Altea was this thing with riding Yalmors, it had a lot of fans but I only watched it once and a while. Eviear, my home planet, invented this thing called 'Bryion' where you basically have to throw-"

"Wait, you're not from Altea?" Pidge asked.

"I'm... I'm not Altean," Aniela said, confused. "I'm Eviean. From planet Eviear. My markings are Eviean..." She touched her finger to the swirls she knew where on her collarbone. The only physical indication of them was that the skin was slightly different, a bit rougher than it was surrounding it and everywhere else. 

"I just thought you were an Altean who had different markings for some reason. Figured it was part of your tragic backstory," Hunk said.

"No, although my grandmother was Altean so I'm not necessarily... not. But the rest of my family is Eviean and I grew up on Eviear, before moving to Altea for training and schooling when the Red Lion chose me. Altean markings are usually more geometric, and less elegant. Although Evieans typically have more than I do, since I'm not a full-blooded Eviean either."

"That's... actually really cool," Pidge says. "So it's like how race works on Earth. You get a little bit of both and some mutant stuff of the two."

"I suppose," Aniela said. "In a way, that's how it works, yes. You'd have to ask Coran, I'm not that good with the technical side of it, just where they conflict and cause me problems."

"Really? What sort of stuff does that happen with? Do you have a weird limb that pops up sometimes? Do some medicines not work? Is that why your hair looks like two different colors? Can you see the electromagnet spectrum? Magnetisation?"

"Pidge," Shiro says. "Aniela is a person, let's not forget that no matter what we find out about her."

"Thank you, Shiro. And as for your rather intrusive questions, Pidge, that's personal, no, yes, maybe, no, and no. I'm going to go clean up the mice, you guys can do whatever you want for the rest of the day."

"Awesome! Thanks, coach!" Lance chirps, before being the first of the team to head back to the hangars." 

* * *

 Princess Allura was nearly finished with preparing the castle for departure. In fact, by Coran's slightly-more-accurate calculations, they should be ready to leave Arus tomorrow. So she leaves the room, thanking the ancients that they are able to operate on schedule, and goes to find Coran and tell him that the final nebulon booster is finally working. Instead, however, she sees Aniela as she's leaving the Bridge. Seizing the opportunity, Allura catches up to her and falls into step at her side.

"Hello, Aniela. I missed you at breakfast this morning," she starts.

"Oh! Um, early. To start training. Slept late. Forgot. Hungry."

"You skipped breakfast?" Allura asked, proud of herself for making sense of Aniela's rambling. "You know that isn't very healthy. We've got to be in top-notch condition if we're going to face Zarkon." 

"Yes, princess. Sorry. Forgot. Late."

"That's alright, Aniela. Just try not to make a habit of it. I did enjoy our morning conversation yesterday." Well, she enjoyed getting closer with Aniela, maybe if she made a routine of their conversations she could work the nervousness out of her. "I would very much like to make that a habit if you enjoyed it as well."

"Yes! Breakfast. Princess. Talk. At breakfast. With princess. Yes."

There had to be something done about that stutter, honestly. Maybe Coran had some more proactive ideas that would get rid of it faster. It couldn't hurt to try. Probably.

"Yes, talking at breakfast. Where are you headed now?"

"Find Coran."

Yes! Something legible! That sounded like an actual response! (Both Aniela and Allura were very proud of this development.) In fact, if it hadn't been for the way the words wavered, it would've been one! Allura grinned at her companion.

"Really? Me too. I need to tell him that I got the last component working and that we'll be all set to leave Arus tomorrow. Are you excited?"

Aniela doesn't provide an answer, just nods passionately. Which Allura takes in stride, and continues the conversation by asking: "How's the paladin training going? Are you still behind after yesterday?"

"Yes. Very behind. One day worth. Worked well today. Um- they did. Not that you didn't! But no, I'm talking about them. Of course, I'm talking about them you asked about them... And I answered. They are working hard. And they are. And you are! We are all working very hard to defeat Zarkon! Yes, working very hard for the mission. Oh, blessed stars I'm a mess."

Allura is unsure whether she should be laughing at how a simple answer could be flubbed so badly, or glaring at a spot in the ceiling because Aniela went from answering plainly to stumbling and repeating in a single answer. So instead she just plays along and pretends that it wasn't an unusual answer. What she gets from Aniela's response is that both she and the paladins are working hard, but they are still behind in training because of yesterday's delay.

"While I won't argue that, I am happy that both you and the paladins are working hard. They've really improved since yesterday, which is a really impressive feat considering the dramatic change in their environment."

"Thank."

Then they were in the kitchen, and their turned-awkward conversation was thankfully over.

"Coran," Allura said. "I just got the final nebulon booster working. We should finally be able to leave Planet Arus tomorrow and take the fight to Zarkon."

Aniela sat down to eat the meal she'd skipped this morning, noting that Hunk had cooked again. Since Coran was talking with Allura and distracted, Aniela grabbed a plate full of whatever Hunk had made and started shoveling it into her mouth so she could go write her entry. Before she can leave, though, the castle alarm system shows them that an unidentified person was approaching the Castle. Keith asks what it is and Allura says "Maybe it's a local Arusian. He's approaching the Castle."

"Greet him?" Aniela asks. Truthfully Aniela wanted to stay in the Castle, she had a lot of work to do, but if Allura was going to go then she might as well.

"Yes. Let's go greet him," Allura says. She leaves, and Aniela and Coran dutifully follow her.

* * *

"Klaizap," Aniela asks, much later. "Could you please show me the land around your village? I'd love to explore this lovely planet of yours."

"Klaizap will show you the land! Gazrel Hill first. Bring companion!"

"Oh, um." Aniela scans their small group, quickly ruling out the Princess and the paladins. "Coran! Could you come with me, please? Klaizap is going to show me some sights on Arus."

"Certainly, Aniela. I'm coming right over."

Klaizap shows them Gazrel Hill, a flower field with wildflowers covering the entire hill and water falls covering the rest. It's a little rocky at the top, and there's a river that cuts right through it, but Aniela can easily say that it is one of the most beautful landscapes she's seen. The next hill is a little different, in that Klaizap has them climb it, but ontop is more waterfalls on a much larger scale. They are covered in trees and greenery. Thousands of vines in all sorts of colors; pink, orange, yellow. Aniela wishes that she had some sort of camera, even though she is awful at taking pictures.

It isn't until the third hill that Coran hits her with the first question. "You've still got a crush on Allura haven't you?"

Aniela doesn't answer. She doesn't have to. They both know that she is far too gone on the Altean Princess, as painful as it is for her to admit it. Instead she answers with a "Can you blame me?" Coran merely gives her a look of dissapointment, so Aniela rushes to defend herself. "She's beautiful, Coran. She's amazing, she's elegant, she could kick my butt if she really wanted to. She's a princess but not at all snotty- she's simply stunning, Coran. I could write a book about how much I like her. I mean, no one would read it, but I could."

"I understand." Coran says. "I was like that about my wife. But you cannot let your feelings get in the way of your mission."

"This is about the stuttering, isn't it?"

"It is and it isn't. I fear that you will always think Allura above yourself when truly you areequally important to the cause and the mission. Just watch your behavior and your emotions, Aniela."

Before Aniela can respond something enters the atmosphere and crashes into the wreckage of Sendak's battle cruiser. "Oh no." Aniela says, realizing how far away they are from the village and the others. "They don't even know about the sword..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed! 
> 
> Also, if you want to hear some useless stuff about Aniela or other stories I'm planning, find me on Tumblr @moonlit-notebook


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